The Arapahoe County Fairgrounds now hosts the annual pumpkin launching festival called Punkin Chunkin Colorado, formerly known as the Aurora Jack-O-Launch. In the past this event was located at Aurora's DeLaney farm, but moved a few years ago.

Teams of pumpkin assassins gather to launch, hurl, and catapult their pumpkins in several categories to see who launches the farthest and most accurately. This event has grown over the years and is now an official national Punkin Chunkin event, attracting teams from all over the country.

There are a variety of other attractions such as concerts and farm exhibits at this festival. You can purchase pumpkins at the event also, and they have a pumpkin-sitting area to store your purchase until you leave.

This festival is no longer free but instead charges a $5 parking fee.

Note:FreeInDenver.com no longer recommends this festival due to their $5 parking fee as well as the extremely long traffic delays that occur as they are collecting the parking fee. The local police have to direct traffic around the area because of the parking fee and because the roads in the area are not meant for the volume of traffic that this festival generates.

I think you'll find that many of us prefer the old days of the Delaney Farm Jack-O-Launch, and we hope this festival can overcome their growing pains to become an even better event than the old Jack-O-Launch.